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La Oliva (Municipality, Canary Islands, Spain)

Flag of La Oliva - Image by Juan Manuel Erbez, 12 June 2002

Symbols of La Oliva

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Symbols of La Oliva

The flag of La Oliva is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 27 May 2002 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 12 June 2002 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 79, pp. 10,113-10,114 (text). The flag was initially approved on 18 November 2000 by the Municipal Council, as published on 6 July 2001 in the official gazette of the Las Palmas Province, and validated on 30 January 2002 by the Heraldry Commission of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular panel [...], whose length is 1.5 time the height. Made of a vertical black stripe with the border embattled of five pieces, covering 1/3 of the flag from the hoist, the remaining 2/3 of the flag being yellow.
When the flag is charged with the municipal coat of arms, the arms should be placed in the middle of the yellow stripe.

The rationale for the use of the vertical embattled stripe and of the colours is the following:
Vertical embattled stripe: Reference to the Colonels' House, the symbol par excellence of the civil architecture in the municipality, also represented on the coat of arms.
Black: Reference to the volcanic fetaurtes of the local orography.
Yellow: Reference to the dunes, so representative of the coast, and to grain cultivation, the main source of income for the municipality.

The coat of arms of La Oliva is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 24 May 1991 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 5 June 1991 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 75, p. 3,235 (text).
The coat of arms, validated by the Royal Academy of History, is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per fess. 1a. Or a goat passant sable a bordure dancetty of the same, 1b. Argent an olive tree vert, 2. Azure the so-called "Colonels' House" argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the 1st quarter shows the arms of the Cabrera family, for long the most important lords on the island. In the 2nd quarter, the olive tree, once abundant, recalls the name of the municipality. The 3rd quarter represents the most important historical building in the municipality.

Santiago Dotor & Ivan Sache, 12 June 2002